German Verb Conjugation of Sprechen (To Speak)

The German verb sprechen means to speak or to talk. It is an irregular (strong) verb and a stem-changing verb. Notice the change from e to i in the du and er/sie/es present tense forms. The past participle is gesprochen.

• Principal Parts: sprechen (spricht) sprach gesprochen
• Imperative (Commands): (du) Sprich! | (ihr) Sprecht! | Sprechen Sie!

Examples:
  Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
  Do you speak German?
  Er spricht sehr schnell.
  He talks very fast.

Sprechen - Simple Past Tense - Imperfekt

The future tense is used much less in German than in English. Very often the present tense is used with an adverb instead, as with the present progressive in English: Er ruft morgen an. = He's going to call tomorrow.

There are three command (imperative) forms, one for each "you" word. In addition, the "let's" form is used with wir.

The subjunctive is a mood, not a tense. The Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) is based on the infinitive form of the verb. It is most often used to express indirect quotation (indirekte Rede). Rare in conversational use, the Subjunctive I is often seen in newspapers, usually in the third person (er spreche, he is said to speak).

*NOTE: Because the Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) of "sprechen" in the first person (ich) is identical to the indicative (normal) form, the Subjunctive II is sometimes substituted.

The Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) expresses wishful thinking, contrary-to-reality situations and is used to express politeness. The Subjunctive II is based on the simple past tense (Imperfekt, sprach), adding an umlaut + e: spräche.

Since the subjunctive is a mood and not a tense, it can be used in various tenses. Below are examples that illustrate how sprechen forms the subjunctive in past or future time. In such cases, the subjunctive forms of haben or werden are combined with sprechen.